My 5: Taihe Mall – Quanzhou, China.

1. Taihe Mall, February 2018. They really know how to make a giant mall in China! Wonderboy and I were on our way back from Quanzhou’s Xunpu Oyster Village when we spotted a hulking collection of shiny towers at the side of the motorway. So we dipped in, treated ourselves to a Burger King and did some exploring.

2. Taihe Mall, February 2018. The mall was in Chinese New Year mode that day, with hanging lanterns, glitzy banners and a psychedelic forest of fake Japanese cherry blossom trees.

3. Taihe Mall, February 2018. The mall has every creature comfort a foreign traveller may need, from Starbucks, KFC, McDonald’s and Pizza hut, to a Watson’s pharmacy, an Imax complex and a collection of cafes, bars and upmarket Chinese restaurants.

4. Taihe Mall, February 2018. An electric train wheels kiddies around the mall’s outer complex, which includes a huge retail village set on either side of a stream, connected via a number of arched bridges.

5. Taihe Mall, February 2018. Don’t expect to get on the ferris wheel! When we tried, the self-service machine was covered up with a large green blanket. “Just get a ticket downstairs from the booth!” said the attendant. But when I poked my head through the open counter window I discovered the office was totally empty. We waited and waited, but soon got bored and left. A few minutes after that we came upon this hilarious place. “Come, come! To the bar where nothing remotely interesting ever happens!”

For more on this under-the-radar city, check out my other 5s from around Quanzhou.

Or maybe search further afield with my zillion articles from across China.